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In a strategy talk, Steve Smith, VP for Intel's Desktop Platforms Group, said that the new desktop dual core processor - dubbed Smithfield - is slated to replace today's generation of Pentium chips.

Initially built on a 90nm process, the chip will be migrated to 65nm sometime in 2006. The Smithfield design is said to offer 2MB of L2 cache split between each core. It will also support 64-bit addressing, an 800MHz frontside bus with the LGA775 interface. However, initially at least, the chip is likely to have a lower clock speed than today's top of the range Pentiums to guard against overheating.

Intel is describing multicore as an 'evolution of hyperthreading'. The company says that whilst hyperthreading can deliver three times the performance of the original Pentium designs, multicore will eventually produce results ten times faster. However, the company refused to answer questions on whether the design is a true dual core die or simply two dies in a single package with some circuitry connecting them

By 2006, Smith estimated that over 70 per cent of all desktop and mobile processors and 85 per cent of servers will be dual-core.